As a child, I mostly just say there and tried not to get my mother's attention. If she even thought we weren't paying rapt attention, we might end up with a trip to the bathroom for a short but very unpleasant beating. And then one at home, because that's how some people deal with the anger they feel at themselves.
As I got older, I think I spent a lot of time day-dreaming, because so few speakers knew how to keep an audience's attention. They just followed the script and droned on. I think many of them just wanted to survive the five or ten minutes they were assigned. It could really be a gloomy atmosphere during the meetings. Before and after? Everyone got to chat with friends and enjoy each other's company for a few minutes, and that was nice.